Heavenly Sword - Demo Impressions and Gameplay Tips

Tips and impressions to help you get the best out of the demo.

Here's some tips to get more out of the demo:

- blocking is automatic but you have to be in the right stance. ie.

Speed Stance will block Blue Attacks
Power Stance will block Orange Attacks
Evade will avoid the unblockable Red Attacks
Range Stance won't block

Read On.

[Crazyglues]

dam already, I didn't even finish getting the download yet and the review is already out... LOL

( still at 15% it's going so slow -"it burns I tell you it burns" )

[TriggerHappy]

yeah , well obviously if you hang out in the official Ninja theory forums, chances are that you knew the demo was on the store earlier so you were one of the first people to get the demo with a good download speed.

[chasegamez]

lol

[hotshot1237]

i cant wait

[chasegamez]

damm just when it was getting good

[NINJARIFIK]

WTF!

[TriggerHappy]

Feel bad for you man. You will get there soon.IS definitely worth the wait.

[Azures]

How quick can you switch between stances in game?

[boi]

very quick

you hold the L1 button and attack with sqaure or triangle button thats call the speed stance

you hold the R1 button thats power stance

no jump but you will forget about it when you play this game

It is no button bashing...need skills hehe like me

counter is very nice in the game, you won't be seeing 1 or 2 counter moves but a few in the demo...what else go ahead and ask me

its auto block but if your good ahem like me all you do is counters and can perform a few bone crunching moves lol

[PS3n360]

Gotta wait a little longer to get my ps3 but hopefully some more gameplay demo footage will hit the net in the next few hours. common gimme some shaky cam footage you lucky b4stards.

[gano]

is to short and i mean short

[Apocalypse Shadow]

don't button mash.
evade with the right analog.
attack when you need to.
switch to the best stance to take a crowd.
try different grabs for AWSOME finishers.

and.......enjoy.short but AWSOME.great to be a ps3 owner today.

[Leogetz]

Awesome game, better then I thought it'd be, sure the demo was short but it did what it was supposed to, made me want the game even more, I can't wait for the release.

[chasegamez]

but it got harder third time around

[VirusE]

This sucks everyone is playing heavenly sword and i am sitting at work.

[Maldread]

Well... it sucks even more that you bastards get to play it, while i`ll have to wait for a price drop here in Europe before i get to play it. Guess the full game will be out then though hehe.

Enjoy it those of you that can, because it sure does look fun.

[hotshot1237]

but now im guessin ur actually trying 2 be more skillful and ur getting hit more while trying 2 counter. thats what happens 2 me with games sometime anyway. well i'll be playing later. have fun

[SIX]

BTW, There's a little easter egg type secret in this game. Something about how if you don't kill and Axe guy at the end you get to fight a tough enemy....Has anyone done this yet?

[chasegamez]

yea i couldnt kill him i die

[THC CELL]

beyond good

[chasegamez]

Heavenly Sword Demo is sick
just to short

[boi]

you can jump doing air combos by knocking the enemies in the air and press triangle and tilt control left/right then you jump and press whatever button to do an air combo

hope it helps

[GoLeafsGo]

..and quite fun, too :D

[Toolman]

You can turn off the sixaxis jump option, and use the X button for air combos also. I found that a bit easier

[hotshot1237]

have fun with it.
psn id- hotshot127

[Azures]

Its a brilliant demo in that its awesome AND short, now everyone is even more compelled to buy the game.

[hotshot1237]

more diverse if u know what i mean. thanx though

[BlackCountryBob]

Wow, that's very very good, first play through I thought it looks beautiful but I basically button bashed (having never played any kind of ninja sword play game eg; Devil May Cry, God of War).

I decided to play it through again and I found a game of terrific depth and replayability, the auto blocking system is something of a god send to help you learn the game. Everything seems very fast and smooth, I noticed no slowdown at all.

I am very impressed, its gonna go on my list now! All I need is a demo of Lair to make me a happy boy.

[Apocalypse Shadow]

if you intend to play this demo like it's god of war,YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED.

DMC plays one way
bujingai plays another way
ninja gaiden also plays another way

play it the way the designers intended.don't button mash and expect to block 90% of your attacks like in god of war.god of war is great.but this game is not GOW.

again:

don't button mash.mash only to finish a combo when you can.
evade with the right analog.
attack when you need to.
switch to the best stance to take a crowd out.
try different grabs with attack for AWSOME finishers

ENJOY!

[boi]

*GT5 SHADOW*
*don't button mash.mash only to finish a combo when you can.
evade with the right analog.
attack when you need to.
switch to the best stance to take a crowd out.
try different grabs with attack for AWSOME finishers*

agreed on that

and plus try attacking with current stance and quickly switch attack with fast/power stance for mixing neat combos together

hope it helps :)

damn i mastered it lol

[GoLeafsGo]

Sometimes, when it cuts into the 'combat animation', the camera's in an awkward place, and you miss the entire sequence (it happened twice), as well as when you do some aerial combos.

Also, I think it may have been my tiredness, but I noticed a slight framerate problem when going to the second platform. A minor thing, mind you, but my eye caught it =\

Oh and.....wtf is with the aerial combos!? I mean, I hit L1+/\, then shake the controller, but when I press the buttons to do an actual combo, it's ending up doing just one hit. Am I doing this too slow? I slowed down after figuring out that any time I decided to do an aerial combo, it always ended up being either /\ /\ /\ or [] [] [].

Fun demo, nonetheless!

***EDIT***
Is anyone else experiencing a 20-30 second loading screen if you decide to skip the cutscene?

[Azures]

sounds overly critical! :p

Get some sleep and play again.

[bee2427]

yea its not worth tryin to skip the cutscene it still takes a long time to load and the cutscene looks cool

[Jamaicangmr]

The demo was great if i didnt already intend to pic up this game the demo would've sold me. The graphics where amazing specially the opening cute scene. The leads face looks so life like it's scary. The level is well hugh and your able to see everything from atop the hill. The attention to detail is great even the enemies are highly detailed from this demo i can tell that this is an epic game.

The leads moves are out of this world and with simple timed button sequences she pulls off some jaw droppin arial moves. The combo system is very easy to use i was really enjoyin some of her grabs. Now it's back to see what other moves i can discover. I only hoped it would've been longer but as the games comes out in a lil over a month this is a sure tease if nothin else.

Now back to play through it again an see what else i missed.

[MetalProxy]

Im at work this sucks I need to quit lol (3 HOURS TO GO). I cant wait to go buy some beers and play that demo.

[GoLeafsGo]

Some of the combos in the Combo List are hidden or 'unlocked'.
They'll only be available in the actual game, right?
If not, I've got a fun task ahead =D! Unlocking all them combos with 'stylish moves' =D

****EDIT****
@ blusoops
No jaggies reported thus far. It's as smooth as silk, and then some.

[blusoops]

Do you guys notice any jaggies while playing? Does her hair look smoother with less jaggies than what it does in the screenshots?! I'm stuck at work so I envy you ALL that are playing it already!!!

[BlackCountryBob]

I noticed no jaggies at all, very smooth.

[Apocalypse Shadow]

here's a fun thing to do.before leaving the tall tower and cutting the rope,toss some bodies over the side and do after touch.it's hilarious!

i threw a hat all the way across before it finally dropped from gravity.

starting an air combo is tuff.playing it again...............

what JAGGIES?hahahaha!! the game looks awsome!somebody find me some jaggies.point them out to me.

[icechai]

Aerial combos really rely on the first hit. Make sure you hit someone either on the ground or someone you just knocked w/ a blockbreaker combo (/\ [] /\ is the quickest one to do, crotch kicker :P, although doing a [] /\ /\ [pause until she lands] /\ is much more satisfying). Now as soon as you land that first L1+/\, jerk the controller down, or up, or however you like, no need to shake it a ton. Now as it cuts to the closeup, just input your combos, there's quite a few, including using different stances for them. Seems like the camera isn't quite optimized yet though for the aerial combos, as the range stance air combo gets jacked up and you don't really see what happens.

[Kleptic]

this game is shaping up to be the best action/fighting game I have ever played...I really am suprised at how different it is then anything else...

anyone see how much stuff is interactive?...towards the end of the demo when the dudes start chucking picnic tables and stuff at you...you can break the table...then throw the individual boards at the enemies!...it is totally awesome...I just spent 20 minutes running around purposely not killing people and picking up their dropped shields, boxes, boards, you name it...you can chuck anything not connected to the ground...I had to stop though because my nuts hurt after watching some of the counters...

definitely going to be a great game...

[emandm]

How can anyone be excited by this!

[boi]

air combos are incredible if you can do any

for me its pretty easy once you get use to the tilt

and

*GT5 SHADOW* lol yea i did the same thing lol

and you gut know you can do the swing attack which kills off all enemies right

[GoLeafsGo]

There ARE jaggies.
In the opening sequence, Kai and Nariko's bodies (anything that's bare, other than the face) have jagged edges through and through.

And regarding the framerate issue, it only happens when you decide NOT to perform the jump going from first fight platform onto the ground. Try it: Don't tap X after clearing the enemy on the first platform.

And one thing I can't seem to figure out is how to do different aerial combos than the ones suggested. It doesn't seem to work, and just ends =\!
Clearly, Aerial combos and I don't mix >_<!

@boi (comment 33)
The swing move was freakin' awesome! And I did NOT know I was clearing the enemies. I thought I was just taking him for a fun ride =)!

[boi]

lol yea the swing move is a deadly move

and well keep practicing with the air combos...try to time it dont press to fast..you get there in the end :D

[Apocalypse Shadow]

i did the swing and took everyone out a couple of times.also,use the camera to watch the hat throw.i'm trying to get it to land on the other areas.

yes princetab,there are some.but they are so UNNOTICEABLE that i didn't care to look for jaggies.they get lost in the fun.

hey guys,you know what nariko needs?she needs mitsurugi's chest stab from soul calibur where he guts you,then has to put his foot on you to pull it out.that would be cool.

where's my lair demo?not that i wasn't buying it anyway.

[aiphanes]

We got 3 good titles comminging in the next month and a half...Lair, Warhawk, and Heavenly Sword.

You do not need a demo for warhawk...just get it. Believe me it is good and good can get.

Lair should also be good, i want to see a demo...but so far the reviews are good.

[PR_FROM_OHIO]

WTF! I WAITED FOR LIKE 45MIN FOR MY DOWNLOAD TO BE COMPLETE. SO AFTER I WAITED I GOT MY CHANCE TO PLAY THE DEMO WAS OVER IN LIKE 5MIN! C'MON THEY SHOULD MAKE IT A LITTLE LONGER! BUT I WILL SAY THE GAME LOOKS PROMISING.

[TriggerHappy]

you want more ? then buy it ? :) thats the whole point of a demo. TO TEASE the gamer into wanting more:p

[sandip787]

wow i would get this game simpy for that takedown cam thing where you throw an object! it is sooo sweet!! i picked up a sheild or hat or whatever it was and threw it, it hit one dude, bounced off a wall and hit 2 more pinball style! oh and i threw a sword at one guy and it hit him straight in the knackers! wow it was immense. if anyone wants to know how to do it, press X to pick an item up, then press and hold X again to throw it. trust me its great. i like throwing guys off the first platform and watching them fall all the way down. im really impressed by this, i really am. i didnt even want this game that much but now i do.

[Bebedora]

I tried the demo for some few. The responsiveness is not truely there. The NGS demo was way more in my liking in that regard. Not disappointed just as expected though.

What I am talking about:

* When moving controller one way it takes a while before she really do it.

* When button mashing while roperiding it doesn't tell, but I have to press more than one time before it goes through. The arrowing went excellent but the X was very unconvincing.

I feel this as weak points. The fighting is there though. Way there.

A buy from me is in doubt. Hope you all enjoy it though

[Bastion]

I suck, im just worried that i suck, I'm having trouble with the after touch after flinging the person in the Air, i want to do an air combo, i haven't succeeded once. Despite what anyone says, it isn't easy, that in itself makes this different, there aren't air combos in GOW, or DMC. There's a bit of a learning curve. We'll have to see if it pans out i appreciate some originality, as my company doesnt go out on a limb like this, we'd be safe and give a tried and true experience. Those that believe this to be a button masher i hardly believe you do this, these enemies block significantly even in this early stage, strong stance does the job after some speed stance, blocking each attack is also a challenge, you have to catch the color prior to the attack while doing your own attack.

Final comments, if it is in fact a mere hack and slash, I'd like to see someone get to the end of a 3 minute demo without being hit once and post the video.

**now post a video where you acheive 10 aftertouch air combos, that is hitting L1+ triangle then holding aftertouch (or moving controller up) and a combnation of buttons

we won't see this till the game comes out, hope you're practicing, i know i will, im not gonna look dumb while playing the full game.

[Keyser]

I've been playing the demo nonstop. This is going to be awesome. It is quite different from God Of War. The combos, the quikc stance changes, the enemy AI, throwing people off a cliff. There just is so much to love.